Croatia concludes funding round for procurement of 206 electric buses

The Croatian Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure has recently issued seven additional funding notices, thereby concluding its ‘Programme for the Procurement of Vehicles with Alternative Drivetrains for Public Local and Regional Transport’ with a total volume of 163 million euros. The fund was co-financed through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan using EU funds. As previously reported, the programme supports 17 Croatian municipalities in integrating 206 battery-electric buses and developing the corresponding charging infrastructure.

The latest funding round benefits transport operators in the seven municipalities of Jastrebarsko, Zaprešić, Sisak, Osijek, Pula, Zadar, and Pisarovina. These operators will now procure a total of 68 electric buses and charging ecosystems worth approximately 53.3 million euros, with 41.9 million euros subsidised through the state funding programme.

Croatia’s Minister of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure and Deputy Prime Minister, Oleg Butković, commented on the recent funding allocation: “With this signing, we conclude the cycle of a truly commendable project, as it represents the ecological transformation of public transport and a clear commitment by the Government of the Republic of Croatia.” Croatia is thus aligning with trends observed across Europe and worldwide.

This autumn, it was announced that the public transport operator ZET in the Croatian capital Zagreb plans to fully transition its bus fleet to electric operation within the next decade by procuring 500 battery-electric buses. However, current registration figures in Croatia remain very low: according to the ACEA’s annual analysis, only nine electric buses were registered in Croatia in 2024 and 2025. The funding is expected to have a noticeable impact on future statistics.

balkangreenenergynews.com, mmpi.gov.hr (in Croatian)